In application Ser. No. 307,125, now abandoned there is disclosed method and means for melting solid materials bearing iron, such as scrap metal, with a flame produced by the combustion of a fuel and essentially pure oxygen. It has been found that the resultant product is of a steel making composition having a very low carbon content and is often highly oxidized. There is also disclosed method and means for adding reagents to the melt as it is discharged from the melter into a collection vessel.
In application Ser. No. 307,130, now abandoned there is disclosed method and means for melting solid materials bearing iron with an oxy-fuel flame and for continuous feeding of the melt to the receiving vessel of further refining means.
It is a purpose of the present invention to improve the efficiency of the above disclosed processes and to provide improved methods for controlling the oxygen and carbon contents of the melt from the oxy-fuel flame melter.
This invention relates generally to a process for melting of iron or steel bearing material in which melting the charge may be partly or entirely scrap metal; the melt is then further treated in a number of different steps in a number of different apparatus having different functions.
More specifically, this invention relates to a process for melting iron bearing material; adding the melt to another molten composition to modify the carbon content of the composition; and further refining the resultant mix with oxygen.
The objects of this invention are attainable through the provision of method and means for oxy-fuel melting a charge of solid material, bearing iron, which melting produces a relatively low carbon containing composition; the low carbon composition is added to another molten composition of relatively higher carbon content, such as that produced by conventional blast furnace practice, to provide a molten mix; unmolten iron bearing material is added to said molten mix in a refining vessel having means for introducing essentially pure oxygen beneath the surface of the melt in said refining vessel.